


Late Night Studies

by rxcktara



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Bending (Avatar TV), F/F, Fluff, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 02:43:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29602653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rxcktara/pseuds/rxcktara
Summary: Korra stays up all night working on a paper and is stressed af. Asami tries to help out.
Relationships: Korra/Asami Sato
Comments: 4
Kudos: 92





	Late Night Studies

**Author's Note:**

> My first time writing a fic, pls be gentle. 
> 
> I started writing this last semester when I was supposed to be writing my own paper and then this semester i finished it up while i was procrastinating yet again lol
> 
> tw: korra has a panic attack
> 
> Thank you so much @riceccakes for all the help and reassurance <3

“UGH! Remind me never to procrastinate on papers again!” Korra groaned from the dining table.

I looked over and couldn't help but shake my head at the sight. She was staring at her laptop screen with such contempt. I stood up from the couch and stretched my arms out before looking her way with a raised eyebrow.

“That’s what you said last time,” I noted. “And I  _ did _ remind you. Like two or three weeks ago, when your paper was assigned. When’s it due?”

Another groan, “Monday morning.” It almost sounded like a whine.

“Oof, that’s rough, buddy,” I said, pausing for her reaction. Korra didn’t seem to notice the reference to one of our favorite shows, or if she did, she didn’t respond at all.

Well, that didn’t work how I wanted it to.

Korra  _ always _ did this with papers. She’d put them off, again and again, and then she’d completely forget about them until the night before and panic. Every. Single. Time. And then she still ended up getting a decent grade which somehow made it okay to keep going like this. Honestly, if it was anyone else, even any of our friends, I’d be beyond annoyed at this point. She’d been doing this since high school! 

But, it was Korra and I hated seeing her so miserable. For some reason this paper seemed to be worrying her a lot more than usual.

I let out a sigh.

Sometimes a little bit of light teasing was enough to motivate her. At the very least, I might be able to make her smile.

“But hey! Look at it this way. At least this time you started on Friday instead of Sunday, like you normally do,” I said, a bit louder. This time she did turn to look at me. “I’d say that’s an improvement!” I added with a wink.

I meant it as a joke, but truthfully, it really was one. It might’ve be lame, but I couldn’t help but be a little proud of her for it. It was a baby step but still a step.

“I guess.” Korra grumbled. She went back to glaring at the screen. No smile.

Oh, so I guess we’re past the self-deprecating humor stage already. Time for Plan B: cuddles.

With Korra, there wasn’t much that a kiss or hug wouldn’t make better. She would never admit it, but I could feel how she would melt into me anytime I touched her. It was so cute and I loved that  _ I  _ was one who could make her that happy.

I walked over and kissed the top of her head. I lingered, resting my chin in her hair. I felt her body relax ever so slightly.

I couldn’t help but look down at the table where she had her notes and books and papers all spread out. Wait, was that sheet music?

“What class is this for anyways?” I asked, legitimately confused.

She mumbled, “Music History.”

Huh. I didn’t know that was a class. “Is that one of the newer history electives?”

“Yeah, I signed up thinking it would be fun but turns out it’s still an  _ actual _ history class,” she said. I could tell she was mentally shaking her head at herself. At least that got a tiny smile out of her.

Oh Korra.

We were both quiet for a few minutes as Korra shuffled through a folder, pulling out and organizing some more sheet music. It made no sense to me but it looked intricate, highly involved, and very impressive. I wondered if this was how she felt when she saw my blueprints. 

I stood up and tapped on Korra’s phone that was lying on the table to check the time. It was almost 5. I decided to get ready. As I turned to head to my bedroom, I saw her reaching out to grab my wrist.

Now, she was looking at me with those guilty puppy dog eyes of hers. Ugh, I just wanted to kiss that little pout off her face.

“I’m really sorry I can’t come with you to your dinner thing. I know how much you hate those.” She whispered. “If it wasn’t for this stupid paper, you know I would go with you.”

“I know, baby, I know.” I smiled as reassuringly as I could. I came back to the table, wrapped my arms around her, and rested my head on her shoulder. 

I knew she felt bad. It was no secret I wasn’t the biggest fan of these company dinner parties, especially when I’d go alone.

I’d only go because my father made me. He’d say, “it's essential to make and maintain business relationships with all of Future Industries’ investors and partners”, especially if I’d run the company one day. That mostly just meant fake, polite smiles and laughing at unfunny (sometimes vaguely problematic) jokes made by Republic City’s finest. It wasn’t  _ horrible, _ but the youngest guests were still usually at least a decade older than me.

That was why I’d always bring Korra with me. Even back before she was my girlfriend, she would be my plus one to basically everything. She would keep me from dying of boredom and in return she got to enjoy all the fancy food they usually served at these things. As if we ever needed incentive to spend some time alone together.

But tonight, I was the one who suggested Korra stay at home to work on her paper.

“Don’t worry about it. I can handle a dumb dinner party without you. Anyways, if you went I know you’d just be stressing over this the entire time. You’d be miserable.” I said into her shoulder while rubbing my hand up and down her arms to soothe her. I playfully added, hoping to get a smile, “Aaaaand maybe it’ll help if I’m not here to distract you,”

Korra just sighed, leaning into my touch. I could feel the nerves radiating off her.

I decided I could wait a few more minutes before I  _ had _ to get ready. She needed me as a distraction  _ now _ .

“So what’s the paper on?” I let go of her while pulling out the chair next to her and sat down sideways to face her.

She furrowed her eyebrows and glared at the textbook.

“I’m not even sure! I’m so behind in this class. I’m like at least 5 chapters behind in the readings so this prompt doesn’t really make sense. I’ve been up since yesterday just trying to get caught up!” She whined.

“Wait, 5 chapters? How did you even get that far behind?” I wondered out loud. “But, you go to class every week, so you should ha-” I stopped, inwardly wincing. I realized that my extremely stressed girlfriend would totally take that the wrong way.

I was a second too late. She hung her head and started compulsively picking and scratching at her fingernails, trying to dig into her skin. Her voice was small and shaky when she started, “You’re right, I sh-should’ve been more…”

Shit.

“Wait, Korra,” I cut her off, quickly trying to backtrack. “I didn't mean it like that! Sweetie, I promise I’m not judging you or anything, I just meant that maybe your lecture notes could help. Like, even though you haven’t read everything yet, at least you have a basic idea going in. That might make it all a little easier to digest?” 

She was already so anxious about the damn paper, why did I have to say  _ that _ ? I really hoped I didn’t just make her cry. 

“I- I don’t know. I mean I try to pay attention I- I really do. It's just that class is so easy to fall asleep in. It’s so early in the morning and… and I swear I try to stay awake I just- We… We listen to all this classical music and, ugh, I know that’s no excuse, but I-” She was rambling at high speed now, her voice sounded like it was going to break any second. “I kept p-putting it off but then I got farther and farther and farther behind and it was s-so much I couldn’t... I just couldn’t—” Then it did. 

Along with my heart.

Fuck. 

Way to go Sato. Girlfriend of the fucking year. 

“S- Sami, I just don’t know what to do. I- I can’t do this. And… and I don’t even know where to start. And now I’m going to fail this fucking class. I didn’t sleep at all last night. I’m not–” Korra struggled to speak while tears of frustration began to line her cheeks.

“Oh baby, no. You’re not going to—Hey, look at me. Let’s just stop and breathe for a second.” I pulled her into me and started to guide her through some deep breaths.

A few minutes later, the sniffles stopped, and her breathing was mostly back to normal. I thought it probably helped a little to get some of the tension out.

“Better?” I asked her. She nodded slightly, although she was still looking down at her lap. She really did look tired. 

“Okay. Korra, you are not going to fail. You can do this. I know you can. Here try this, instead of thinking of it as this giant task, break it down into smaller more manageable parts. Like how about you catch up on all the reading tonight and don’t worry about writing the actual paper until tomorrow.”

She nodded again.

“Focus on getting through one chapter at a time and you can take a  _ short _ break in between. No naps or video games, play some guitar or do something creative instead. That’ll help keep your brain pumping.”

“Okay, one chapter at a time. That could work.” Korra repeated softly, more to herself than to me. There were a few seconds of silence, then she looked up at me with a childish glimmer in her eyes.

“You know, technically there have been studies and stuff that prove that playing video games  _ is  _ doing something creative because you’re interacting with the game world in real time. And they help with rapid decision making and also with short term memory and hand eye coordination and reflexes and stuff. Oh! And they also help with critical thi—”

“No, Kor, I know that,” I cut her off with a playful eye roll. 

_ I _ was the one who sent her that article in the first place. But I was just really glad she was joking around again. “I just know that once you start playing, you won’t be able to stop, and you’ll be hooked for hours. That sort of defeats the purpose of a short break.”

“Okay, yeah. That’s..that’s fair.” Korra conceded shyly. 

And adorably.

“Well now I really should go get dressed, this place is pretty far out of the city. It’ll take almost an hour just to get there,” I complained as I stand up to walk to our bathroom.

\----

A short while later, I emerged from my bedroom in a classy, maroon dress with my hair and make up done. It was just past 6. Perfect. On my way out, I stopped at the dining table where Korra looked up from her textbook.

Korra’s eyes went wide as she took in the view. “Wow babe, you look amazing. I really wish I was going with you.” There was nothing but sincerity in her voice.

My face grew warm and I smiled back bashfully. “Thank you, sweetie. So, um, I’ll probably be back by 11. Maybe midnight at the latest? I think there’s some leftover pasta in the fridge. Please eat. I love you. You can do this. I believe in you!”

“Okay, I love you too. I promise you, I’m going to finish up this reading. Try to have fun?” 

I smiled as I bent down and gave her a quick goodbye kiss before leaving the apartment. I really hoped Korra would be alright tonight.

\----

The dinner wasn’t too bad after all. Thankfully, I didn’t end up hanging out with old people all night. 

There was this young couple who had just moved into the city and had been invited to meet people. We ended up staying back after the dinner and talking more. Before I knew it, it was already close to 1 in the morning. 

Great. Even if the streets were empty, it’d take me at least 45 minutes to drive home from this McMansion.

It was a little odd not to have gotten any texts from Korra in the past six hours but I knew she was busy reading. I just hoped she didn’t have another panic attack. I’d like to believe Korra would call or text me if that were the case, knowing I’d come straight home, but she always seemed so guilty when she did, especially if she knew I was doing something work-related. So who really knew? We were working on that.

Korra loved her sleep and was usually in bed by midnight on the dot, so I was positive that she was asleep already. She was  _ definitely _ not a night owl. I really hoped she ate something. I’d wanted to maybe squeeze in some extra cuddle time tonight because she was so stressed out but it was probably better that she got some rest. 

\----

When I came home, I was surprised to see that all of the lights in the apartment were still on. That was weird. Korra usually turned them off before she went to bed. She was probably too tired and forgot. 

I heard soft sounds coming from her bedroom. Maybe she was still awake?

“Korra?” No answer. 

Of course, there was no way she’d still be awake at this hour. Korra’s body pretty much shut down if she tried to stay up past 1, and here it was practically 3 in the morning.

I headed to my own room and quickly slipped out of my dress and heels. I changed into some joggers and an old t-shirt that I had “borrowed” from Korra back when we first started dating, before heading to Korra’s room to turn off her lights.

Then I heard it again, a little more clearly this time. Yep, definitely Korra. And she was... giggling? I knew from experience, an exhausted Korra could turn delirious quickly, so I could only imagine what the added stress would cause. 

“Hey Kor? Is everything alright?” I asked as I slowly pushed her door the rest of the way open. There she was, sitting on her bed with papers scattered around her and an open textbook on her lap, staring blankly at her laptop screen. At the sound of my voice, she looked up at me with a dopey grin. 

Yeah, she was  _ beyond _ tired.

“Oh ‘Sami! You’re back!” She giggled and opened her arms towards me for a hug.

“Hey babe, I didn’t think you’d still be awake,” I greeted her as I sat on the bed and settled into my spot between her arms.

“I’m so tired,” She lamented while nuzzling her face into my shoulder. 

“Well, why didn’t you go to bed?” I asked softly. “You didn’t have to wait up for me, you know.”

“I’m still not done yet,” She mumbled. “I’ve got a chapter left.”

“Only one chapter left? That’s awesome! But you should go to sleep and then you can finish up in the morning,” I suggested, pulling back so I could see her face.

“No! Can’t yet!” She blurted out as she shook her head way too hard.

I smiled at her cute and sleepy antics. “Why not?” I asked her.

She looked up at me now. Her eyes were red and the bags under them were prominent. She furrowed her eyebrows as if I was asking the most obvious question. 

“I promised you,” She said simply and then looked back down at the book at her lap.

I vaguely remembered her promising me she would read everything before I got home. I didn’t think she would take it so seriously!

“Aw baby, you didn’t have to stay up just because of that. You’ve done so much already, I’m so proud of you!” I glanced at the book and noticed it looked like she was still on the first page of the chapter. 

Her body was swaying slightly and her eyes fluttered. She shook herself awake quickly. 

“Baby, you’re falling asleep. Let’s just stop for now and then read the last chapter in the morning. Come with me, let’s sleep in my bed,” I suggested as I slid the book off of her lap to put on her side table.

She looked up at me again, clearly fighting to keep her eyes open. After a few seconds of thought, she suddenly dropped her forehead on my shoulder. “Mm’kay,” She mumbled. 

Her forehead lifted as I started to move off the bed. She reached to close her laptop, but stopped. She started to snicker to herself.

“‘Sami, d’you wanna know what my paper’s about?” She asked, fighting a smile and failing. 

“What?”

She bursted into giggles, “Or..Organums!” 

Um.. what? I lifted my eyebrow and gestured for her to explain further. 

“Organums, S’a music thing but it…” She could barely get her words out in between the giggles. “It s-sounds like ‘orgasm’!” 

Oh my god. That was precious. Thankfully, I remembered that my phone was in my pocket and discreetly pulled it out and recorded her fantastic revelation. 

“You what?” I asked again to prompt her to explain on camera this time, trying my hardest to contain my own laughter.

“The paper’s on orgasms... Wait, no it’s on organums. Yeah, that,” She explained less elegantly than the first time because her giggles were only getting worse. “But it looks like ‘orgasm’, so I kept reading ‘organum’ as ‘orgasm’ instead and was s-so so confused!” 

This girl. I couldn’t believe a person could be this adorable. I shook my head and couldn’t help but join her now. I stood there waiting for Korra to get up and follow. 

As the giggles tapered off, she pushed the laptop away and shuffled ungracefully off the bed. While she was looking away, I stepped into her path and let her walk right into me. Stunned, she looked at me and I cupped both of her cheeks. 

Her confusion was quickly replaced with another dopey smile as I pulled her in close to shower her face with quick tiny kisses.

“You.” Her forehead. “Are.” The bridge of her nose. “So.” The tip of her nose “Cute.” Finally, her lips. 

When I let go of her face, her smile had only gotten bigger. 

“Come on,” I said as I lightly pulled her behind me, walking towards my room and turning the lights off as we went.

Finally in my room, I led her to sit on the edge of the bed and turned to grab something for her to sleep in from my dresser. It worked out since the majority of my sleep shirts had been “borrowed” from her at some point, anyways. 

I heard her fall backwards on the bed and let out a sigh. I quickly turned and pulled her back into a sitting position. “Don’t fall asleep just yet, love,” I warned. 

“But ‘Sami I’m sleepy,” She whined, drawing out her vowels like a child. 

“I know, let’s get you out of those jeans first. Then we can cuddle,” I soothed as I helped her out of her shirt and bra. Then I pulled the sleep shirt over her head while she pulled off her jeans. 

She lifted the covers and scooched to the far side of the bed, waiting for me to follow. Yawning, I slid in next to her and lifted my arm so she could adjust herself. 

She hummed happily as she nuzzled into my chest and I wrapped her in my arms. 

“‘Sami,” a soft, sleepy voice said.

“Hmm?”

“I love you,” She whispered. 

I brought my hand up and lovingly stroked her hair.

“I love you too, Korra,” I whispered back, but she was already asleep. 

_ Organum _ . I mean, she was right. I smiled to myself remembering the last 15 or so minutes. I'd definitely have to show her that video in the morning. She would hate it.

I felt her shift closer, climbing almost halfway on top of me. As I leaned in and kissed the top of her head, she let out a deeply satisfied sigh.

I thought sleepy Korra was the cutest version of Korra that I’d seen so far. 

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, this entire thing was an extremely elaborate set up for the "organum sounds like orgasm" joke, I'm sorry lol.


End file.
